The Big Story 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, tapped in part to help President Trump keep markets calm, may have had his breakout moment this week.

© Greg Nash

Bessent spearheaded the rollout of Trump’s 90-day pause on hefty tariffs on trading partners, briefly calming the markets amid increasing pressure from Wall Street for the trade team to shift gears toward negotiating.

The Treasury secretary has emerged as the leading voice on trade, winning the microphone from top tariff hawks in the administration, including trade adviser Peter Navarro — a development Republican lawmakers are cheering on vociferously. 

“He is a voice that is reassuring and calm when it comes to the news of the day, particularly with regard to what’s happening in the economy and the issues on trade and taxes,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told The Hill. 

One longtime GOP lobbyist added that Bessent, along with Kevin Hassett, the head of the National Economic Council, are the business community’s “great hope” in the administration to keep it from “fully going over the protectionist cliff” in what has already become an internal tug-of-war. 

Read the full report at TheHill.com.

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Tax Watch 

Welcome to Tax Watch, a new feature in The Hill's Business & Economy newsletter focused on the fight over tax reform and the push to extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts this year.

4 Senate Republicans warn against ‘full-scale’ repeal of energy tax credits

A group of four Senate Republicans warned against a “full-scale” repeal of energy tax credits passed by Democrats in 2022.

“While we support fiscal responsibility and prudent efforts to streamline the tax code, we caution against the full-scale repeal of current credits, which could lead to significant disruptions for the American people and weaken our position as a global energy leader,” wrote Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), John Curtis (Utah), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Jerry Moran (Kan.). 

Their letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), is notable since a bloc of four senators could be enough to block Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill from moving forward. 

If all four are willing to hold firm, at least some of the incentives for low-carbon energy projects passed by Democrats in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act could remain in place — though it’s not clear from the letter which incentives they hope to keep or whether they’d be open to reducing some of the credits instead of fully axing them.

— Read more here.

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